Rice alumni create travel fellowship to honor beloved professors

For Rice University students interested in summer travel to Europe, a new travel fellowship established by Rice alumni in honor of two beloved professors may help provide an experience of a lifetime.

The Amici di Via Gabina Traveling Fellowship was established this spring and provides a summer traveling stipend to an undergraduate, graduate or fifth-year student for a transformational opportunity in the study of architecture, art, history, archeology, language, music and culture.

The Amici di Via Gabina Traveling Fellowship was established this spring and provides a summer traveling stipend to an undergraduate, graduate or fifth-year student for a transformational opportunity in the study of architecture, art, history, archeology, language, music and culture.

The award was established in honor of Walter Widrig and Phillip Oliver-Smith, professors emeritus of art history, whose leadership in the Via Gabina excavation project for 14 years gave Rice students opportunities to participate in their own transformational experiences. Widrig will be honored with a Meritorious Service Award at the Association of Rice Alumni Laureates Dinner May 16.

Via Gabina students in Italy.

The winner of this competitive fellowship is chosen on the basis of submitted proposals for travel and study. Travel must be in Europe, and preference is given to applicants traveling or studying in Italy.

The fellowship’s first recipient is Emma Hurt, a Duncan College senior studying history.

Hurt’s plan of study for the Amici di Via Gabina Traveling Fellowship centers on exploring the Slovenian- and German-speaking Italian populations in the South Tyrol and Friuli-Venezia Giulia autonomous regions of Italy.

“The Slovenian speakers are very much a minority, while two-thirds of South Tyrol inhabitants speak German,” Hurt said. “Yet both maintain secessionist movements, and Mussolini persecuted both with policies of forced ‘Italianization.’ I hope to explore the ways these cultures overlap on a daily basis, architecturally, linguistically, gastronomically, etc.”

A New York City reunion of Via Gabina students.

Hurt said that she is “very honored” to be the first recipient of this fellowship.

“Walter Widrig and Philip Oliver-Smith were able to provide life-changing experiences to many students in Italy,” she said. “I feel lucky to have been awarded the chance to have my own kind of experience in such a rich and beautiful country.”

Natalye Appel ’80/’82, an alumna of the program (she participated in 1979, 1980 and 1982), said that the idea for the fellowship came from former students of Widrig and Oliver-Smith.

“It was discussed starting in August 2012 after a dinner at my home with a few of the program’s former students,” Appel said. “The plan was further defined during a January 2013 reunion of Via Gabina alumni.

During this reunion, Appel said each former student gave a brief rundown of his or her life following “that remarkable experience.”

“The stories had one overriding theme: how taking part in the Via Gabina dig and the discoveries it made possible — exposure to Italy, to Europe, to archeology, art and architecture — had deeply inspired us and even changed the direction of our lives,” Appel said.

Following the reunion, fellow alumna Geraldina Interiano Wise ’83/’85 (a program participant in 1981) worked with the Rice Development Office to develop the commitment to Rice. The alumni started fundraising via a grassroots effort manned by the group’s founding committee, with a letter penned by Dan Borden ’85, another program alum. The alumni completed fundraising for the first award in 2014, but are still raising funds for the fellowship’s endowment.

The traveling fellowship is but one example of how alumni can support international experiences for students, an important component of the university’s Initiative for Students that launched last fall. The initiative seeks foster deeper connections between alumni and students and create more opportunities for experiential learning that complement and reinforce students’ classroom experiences.

“Given the enthusiasm and passion of Amici di Via Gabina program alumni, the Division of Development and Alumni Relations is proud to have launched an official alumni network and to partner with volunteers to help facilitate more regular interactions among the group’s members,” said Daniel Stypa, associate director of alumni engagement. “In addition, we’re proud to serve as a resource to help foster a strong sense of engagement and support of Rice.”

Dean of Undergraduates John Hutchinson called the fellowship “fantastic.”

“This is a wonderful, new opportunity for students to enrich their cultural and artistic experiences internationally,” he said.

Cultural understanding is one of Rice’s Priorities for the New Century.

Via Gabina alumni and other individuals interested in donating to the fund can visit http://alumni.rice.edu/groups/other/networksto learn more and stay connected. To learn more about the Initiative for Students and how your contributions of time and gifts can make a difference, visit http://owledge.rice.edu.